Chapter C: LURIDA x LUPULINA, Bailey. Very like C. lurida, but the spikes

usually all approximate or only the lowest separated, erect or spreading, all sessile, green or greenish, often curved; perigynium very long-beaked and ascending; staminate spike one, sessile or very nearly so, strongly resembling that of C. lupulina. (C. tentaculata, var. altior, _Boott_.)--Mass., Conn., and N. Y.; little known. C. lupulina x retrorsa is distinguished from this by its yellow or straw-colored more scattered spikes which are shorter and always straight, and the loose, larger and more inflated perigynia.

[*] 1.--[+] 4. _Pseudocyperae._

[++] _Spikes all erect or ascending._

17. C. Schweinitzii, Dewey. Soft but erect, 1--2 deg. high, stoloniferous, yellowish-green and becoming straw-colored in drying; culm flattish and smooth; leaves broad (3--4''), the radical longer than the culm, the others mostly short; spikes 3--4, the lower one or two short-peduncled, narrowly long-cylindrical (11/2--3' long, 4'' broad); perigynium thin and somewhat inflated, prominently few-nerved, the long beak short-toothed, ascending; scale awned and commonly rough at the tip, a little shorter than the perigynium.--Swamps, W. New Eng. to N. J., and west to Mich.; local.

[++][++] _Spikes widely spreading or drooping._

18. C. hystricina, Muhl. Slender but erect, 1--2 deg. high; culm very sharply angled and rough, at least above; leaves rather narrow, roughish; spikes 1--3, borne near the top of the culm, the upper one often sessile, the remainder on more or less filiform stalks, short (rarely 11/2' long) and compactly flowered; perigynium greenish, very strongly 15--20-nerved, the very slender beak strongly toothed; scale linear and rough-awned, nearly or quite as long as the perigynium.--Swales, throughout; frequent. Often confounded with n. 16.

Var. Dudleyi, Bailey. Taller; spikes larger and slimmer (11/2--21/2' long), light straw-colored, all secund and widely divaricate or nodding; perigynium stronger toothed; scales usually more prominent.--Swales, Conn. (_Wright_), Ithaca, N. Y. (_Dudley_), Wisc. (_Lapham_).

19. C. Pseudo-Cyperus, L. Tall and stout, 2--3 deg. high; culm thick and very sharply triangular, rough throughout; leaves very long, rough-margined; spikes 3--5, all slenderly peduncled and more or less drooping, all somewhat contiguous, long (mostly 2--3') and narrowly cylindrical, very compactly flowered; perigynium elliptic-lanceolate, more or less 2-edged, many-costate, the beak shorter than the body, with erect short teeth, strongly reflexed; scale very rough-awned, about the length of the perigynium.--Swamps and lake-borders, N. Eng. to Penn., and Mich.; rare. (Eu.)

Var. Americana, Hochst. Mostly stouter, the leaves broader (about 1/4'); spikes thicker and commonly more drooping; perigynium longer, the beak mostly longer than the body and the teeth long and prominently spreading. (C. comosa, _Boott_.)--Swamps; common.

[*] 1.--[+] 5. _Squarrosae._

20. C. stenolepis, Torr. Stout and very leafy, 1--2 deg. high; culm obtusely angled, very smooth; leaves about 3'' broad, rough on the nerves, the upper and the bracts very much longer than the culm; terminal spike often pistillate at top; other spikes 3--5, the uppermost sessile on the zigzag rhachis, short (1--11/2' or less) and evenly cylindrical, often staminate at top; perigynium very abruptly contracted into a short but slender toothed beak, shorter than the long-linear and rough scale.--Swamps and meadows, central Penn., to N. Ohio, west and southward; frequent.

21. C. squarrosa, L. Cespitose, 2--3 deg. high; culm sharply angled, more or less rough above; leaves broad and weak, roughish, exceeding the culm; bracts much less prominent than in the last; spikes 1--3, thick, the terminal always two-thirds pistillate or more, the remainder more or less stalked, erect or slightly nodding, globular or oblong-cylindric, brown, exceedingly densely flowered; perigynium larger, the beak rough; scale short and usually invisible.--Bogs, throughout; infrequent.

[*] 2. TRACHYCHLAENAE.--[+] 1. _Shortianae._

22. C. Shortiana, Dewey. Tall and slender but strict, in small clumps, 2--3 deg. high; leaves about 1/4' broad, flat, rough on the nerves; spikes 3--5, somewhat approximate near the top of the culm, the lowest 2 or 3 short-peduncled, erect, small (1' long or less, and 2'' wide), evenly cylindrical, exceedingly densely flowered; perigynium small, circular or round-ovate, flat, sharp-edged, nerveless, the orifice entire, perfectly squarrose; scale thin and blunt, about the length of the perigynium.--Wet meadows, S. Penn. and Va. to Ill.; rare eastward.

[*] 2.--[+] 2. _Anomalae._

23. C. scabrata, Schwein. Tall and rather stout, very leafy, 1--3 deg. high, culm sharply and very roughly angled; leaves broad and flat, very rough; spikes 3--5, scattered, the upper 1 or 2 sessile, the remainder often long-peduncled and sometimes nodding, 1--2' long, narrowly cylindrical and compactly flowered; perigynium broadly ovate, prominently few-nerved, rough, the beak nearly as long as the body and slightly toothed; scale acute and rough-tipped, green-nerved, about as long as the body of the perigynium.--Wet meadows and glades, as far west as Mich.; common eastward.

[*] 2.--[+] 3. _Hirtae._

24. C. vestita, Willd. Stout and stiff, 2--3 deg. high; culm sharply angled, smooth or somewhat rough; leaves narrow and rather short, roughish; staminate spike 1, rarely 2, sessile or nearly so; pistillate spikes 2--5, approximate and sessile, or rarely the lowest sub-radical, often staminate at top, oblong or short-cylindric (rarely 1' long), compactly flowered; perigynium ovate, nerved, stiffly hairy, short-beaked, the beak often purple, and white-hyaline at the orifice, which becomes more or less split with age; scale thin and blunt or acute, shorter than the perigynium.--Tufted in sandy soils, from N. Eng. to N. Y., and southward; frequent.

25. C. striata, Michx., var. brevis, Bailey. Stiff, 1{1/2}--2{1/2} deg. high; culm sharply angled, smooth or slightly rough above, mostly exceeding the leaves; leaves narrow and stiff, becoming involute; spikes 1--2, mostly closely sessile, considerably separated when two, short (rarely 1{1/2}' long) and rather thick, erect; perigynium broad-ovate with impressed nerves, smooth, ascending, short-beaked and very short-toothed; scale thin, obtuse or acutish, mostly about {1/2} as long as the perigynium.--Pine-barren swamps, N. J., and southward; local.

26. C. Houghtonii, Torr. Stiff, 1--2 deg. high, extensively creeping; culm rather sharply angled, rough, exceeding the leaves; leaves flat and very sharp-pointed; spikes 1--3, sessile or the lowest short-stalked, erect, varying from nearly globular to cylindric (1{1/2}' long), compact; perigynium short-ovate, stiffly pubescent, prominently nerved and toothed; scale thin-margined, acute or awned, shorter than the perigynium.--Sandy knolls and banks from Maine to Minn. along our northern borders, and northwestward; rather local.

27. C. filiformis, L. Tall and very slender but erect, 2--3 deg. high; culm obtuse, smooth; leaves very long, involute-filiform, rough; spikes 1--3, sessile, somewhat scattered, erect, short and thick (rarely over 1' long); perigynium very short-ovate, the teeth very short, the few nerves obscured by the dense stiff hairs; scale thin and blunt, about as long as the perigynium.--Bogs, throughout, north of Penn.; frequent. (Eu.)

Var. latifolia, Boeckl. Culm mostly rough above; leaves flat, 1--2'' broad; spikes usually somewhat slimmer and scales often sharper and longer. (C. lanuginosa, _Michx._)--Swales and low meadows, throughout; common.